Employers Move to Adapt Health Law (WSJ):Two key parts of the health law take effect today, a requirement for employers to give insurance-company refunds to workers and the inclusion of contraception and other health services in workers’ insurance plans without charging co-payments or fees…

One Hospital’s Fight Against Deadly Infection (WSJ): The New Jersey-based hospital, Hunterdon Medical Center, cut its rates of deadly infections and has now launched a national program to help educate infection control officials and cleaning staff. The federal government estimates that one in 20 patients who enter a hospital get potentially deadly infections, particularly from touching common surfaces such as sink faucets and TV remote controls. The government’s goal is to reduce hospital infections and other preventable problems by 40% next year from 2010 levels.

Who Sleeps Better At Night? (WSJ):New research suggests that sleeping with a partner has many health benefits, including lowering levels of a stress hormone and boosting a hormone known to ease anxiety…

A new online tool to prepare patients for surgery and other invasive procedures aims to reduce the stress and anxiety that accompanies many medical decisions.

Boston-based Health Dialog today launched HD Care Compass, a web and mobile site with patient guides on what to expect before, during and after seven major procedures, including cardiac catheterization …

If you’re a Medicare patient admitted to the hospital, the odds are about one in six that you’ll end up back in the hospital within a month. And there was very little progress made in reducing that rate between 2004-09.

Mood Lift?: A study shows that for women, drinking two to three cups of coffee per day is associated with a 15% lower risk of developing depression during a ten-year period, the WSJ reports. Other forms of caffeine were also tied to a lower risk of depression. However, this type of study can’t prove that caffeine prevents the condition …

The problem of antibiotic resistance tends to reach public consciousness in a scattershot manner — when ground turkey is recalled because it’s tainted with salmonella that can’t be treated by common drugs, for example. But it’s hard to get a comprehensive picture of the extent to which certain infections have become impervious to treatment …

Pulling Fruit: Colorado-based Jensen Farms is recalling cantaloupes sold between July 29 and Sept. 10 on fears that they might be tainted by listeria bacteria, the WSJ reports. A multi-state outbreak of listeriosis has sickened 16 people and killed one of them, but the FDA and Colorado public-health authorities have not indicated whether the farm’s cantaloupes are the source of the outbreak, the paper says …

Ah, the simple act of hand-washing. It’s a simple, cheap way to prevent spreading infection in hospitals. And yet, research suggests compliance with so-called “hand hygiene” guidelines is less than 50% in many hospitals.

More heart-attack patients now than five years ago are getting a potentially life-saving procedure to open blocked arteries within the recommended time frame, a new study shows.

The so-called “door-to-balloon” time refers to how long it takes for heart attack patients who need an angioplasty — an opening of the blocked artery using a catheter — to receive one once they’ve gotten to the hospital. The recommendation is to get the procedure within 90 minutes …

Viagra Protection: A federal judge ruled yesterday that a Pfizer patent on the erectile-dysfunction treatment Viagra is valid and enforceable, protecting the blockbuster drug against generic competition until 2019, the WSJ reports. Teva Pharmaceutical had proposed a generic version of the drug, arguing that certain claims of that 2019 Pfizer patent were invalid, the paper says …

Dire Straits: A new report from Moody’s says that nonprofit hospitals have been squeezed by a drop in elective surgeries and state Medicaid cuts, and stand to be pressured even further by Medicare cuts stemming from the health-care overhaul law and future deficit-reduction efforts, the WSJ reports. A review of 401 hospitals financial results from 2010 finds only 4% revenue growth, the lowest since Moody’s started tracking these stats 20 years ago, with 20% running a loss on an operating basis. Most of the hospitals had margins of 5% or less …

Marketing Probe: Merck has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department as part of a criminal probe into the marketing and sales of three drugs since 2004, the WSJ reports. Temodar, PegIntron and Intron A were Schering-Plough products; Merck acquired the company in 2009. Merck is cooperating with the investigation, a spokesman tells the WSJ …

Ask anyone who’s spent time in the hospital — patients get a lot of blood taken over the course of their stay.

A blood test can provide crucial information that can’t be gotten any other way. But sometimes there may be a downside. A study of heart-attack patients just published online by the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that blood loss from diagnostic tests is associated with acquiring anemia in the hospital. And anemia — a decrease in the red blood cells or specific protein that carry oxygen throughout the body– is associated with poorer health and a higher risk of death …

The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month. And the health-care industry showed particular strength, with 31,300 new jobs — higher than the average monthly increase seen in 2007, before the recession hit …

Germany’s Merck forecasts little or no improvement in earnings this year, with stiff competition for its blockbuster multiple-sclerosis treatment and higher research spending likely to offset the impact of recent acquisitions.